Door



C. J. BINNER Feb. 18, 1964 DOOR Filed June 29, 1961 ITZEHZE-t' CARL a. BINNER United States Patent DOOR Carl J. Binner, Oshkosh, Wis., assignor to Morgan Company, Inc, Oshkosh, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed June 29, 1961, Ser. No. 120,627 1 Claim. ((31. 20-35) This invention relates to building structures and is more particularly concerned with improvements in a panel-type door for closing an opening in the wall of a building.

It has been common practice for many years to provide hingedly mounted doors in dwellings and like structures with lock or latch sets which include turn-ing knobs or handles and which are designed to be located adjacent the free edge of the door. rdinarily, such lock or latch sets are installed by a carpenter on the job, the usual procedure being to trim the door to the proper size for the opening, and after it has been secured in the opening by installation of the hinges, the holes for the lock or latch are bored in the frame member adjacent the free edge of the door and the lock or latch is installed to complete the hanging of the door. More recently, center located lock sets have been introduced which require installation of the lock near the center of the door or spaced a substantial distance inwardly of the free edge thereof with the lock or latch operating mechanism connected to the latch member at the edge of the door by a relatively long extension link. This type of long backset lock or latch presents an installation problem because of the length of the hole which must be bored to accommodate the extension link or other connecting member between the lock or latch member and its operating mechanism. The tools ordinarily provided for installing a conventional lock or latch set are inadequate for preparing the door for the installation of a long backset lock or latch. Also, the carpenter or other person who installs the mechanism ordinarily is unable to guide a bit so as to bore a latch hole of the length required which is properly centered relative to the thickness of the door and properly aligned so that it extends in a direction normal to the edge of the door as required for satisfactory operation of the mechanism. It is a general object, therefore, of the present invention to provide a door which is initially fabricated so that following a few simple instructions, a person with little skill as a carpenter may readily install a long backset lock or latch assembly on the door when the door is hung.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a door which comprises laterally spaced stiles connected by top and bottom rails and an intermediate lock rail which has a pre-machined hole so as to adapt the same to ready installation of a long backset lock or latch assembly with a minimum of field operations.

It is a still more specific object of the invention to provide a panel-type door having laterally spaced stiles which are connected at the top and bottom by cross rails and intermediate the ends by a lock rail and the latter having a pre-machined hole for receiving a backset lock or latch extension unit.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the door structure which is shown by way of illustration in the accompanying rawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation showing the face of a door having the invention incorporated therein;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary cross section taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1 to an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 3 is a partial elevation, similar to FIGURE 1 of the center portion of the door with the necessary holes bored therein for receiving a long backset lock or latch assembly; and

IFIGURE 4 is a partial elevation similar to FIGURE 3 with the lock or latch assembly installed.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a paneltype wooden door 10 which is adapted for factory fabrication and which comprises a pair of spaced vertical side frame or stile members 11 and 12 connected at the top and bottom by top rail forming cross member 13 and bottom rail forming cross member 14, respectively. The frame thus formed is divided by an intermediate cross member or lock rail 15 into the top and bottom openings for receiving panels 16 and 17 with the latter having their edges seated in slots provided in the inwardly facing edges of the stiles and cross frame members as indicated at 18 in FIGURE 2;. The edges of the frame members which face inwardly in the direction of the panel receiving openings are also molded as illustrated.

The intermediate cross member 15 is positioned at the proper height to serve as a lock rail and is adapted to receive the lock or latch operating mechanism. During the fabrication of the door and prior to assembly of the frame members and panels the lock rail 15 is provided with a hole 20 throughout its length which is located on the center line of the rail as indicated at a-a in FIGURE 1 and which is of sufiicient diameter to accommodate the latch barrel or the extension therefor. Preferably, the lock rail is formed in two pieces which are of equal size and which are run through a moulder or sticker and a half round slot stuck in each piece. The two pieces or halves are then glued together, there by providing a round hole 20. The hole 20 extends through the entire length of the lock rail 15 so that the door may be hung on either side. It is, of course, completely hidden when the door is assembled.

In installing the door and fitting the lock or latch set, the line aa is marked on the face and edge of the door and the relatively short hole 21 is bored in alignment with the pre-machined hole 20 so as to constitute an extension thereof as indicated in FIGURE -3. The hole 22 is bored also, as indicated in FIGURE 3, in the center of the lock rail 15 of the proper size to receive the barrel of the lock or latch housing and knob assembly 23. The lock housing and knob assembly 23 together with the latch 24 and the latch extension link 25 are then installed in the door as shown in FIGURE 4 in the same manner as in the installation of the side edge lock or latch assembly.

The provision of the stock door 10 with the premachined hole 20 in the lock rail 15 facilitates the installation of the long backset lock or latch assembly by eliminating the need for boring an extra long hole in the field, it being necessary to bore only the two holes in the door which are normally required in the installation of the edge positioned lock or latch assembly. Also, the hardware which may be used on the door is not limited to the extension link type which is illustrated in the drawings. The door may be installed with conven tional hardware in lieu of the center-installed with the extension link if desired.

While the door illustrated in the drawings is a panel type, it will be understood that the invention is applicable to other door constructions having a lock rail, visible or concealed, in which a hole for the backset extension member is provided during factory fabrication of the door.

I claim:

A prefabricated door for installation as a hinged closure in an opening in a building, said door comprising a wooden frame having side rails and connecting cross rails of substantially solid section, one of said cross rails being located intermediate the top and bottom portions of the door and constituting a lock rail, said look rail comprising two mating sections with abutting edges glued together and having aligned pre-cut recesses in said edges which co-operate to form a concealed hole extending transversely of the door, said hole having a cross section which is substantially smaller than the cross section of said lock rail and which is of sufiicient size to accommodate in free sliding relation therein an inner portion of the latch 01' lock barrel of a long backset latch or References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 343,807 Field June 15, 1886 1,029,748 Giese June 18, 1912 2,980,217 Etling Apr. 18, 1961 

